Close, but no prize...

I agree with some of the previous reviewers comments. The touch screen is fairly lame as far as sensitivity and accuracy are concerned. But I think it's more the fault of the software than the phone itself. If you turn on the haptic feedback, you can feel when a button is pressed, but the software doesn't respond or responds with the wrong button at times. I'm hoping in the very near future that Verizon/Samsung will release a software update to remedy this issue. From what I've noticed, it seems the touch screen is actually heat sensitive versus electrical. It seems that it's most inaccurate after I've been wearing it for a while. If I let it cool below my body temperature, it's much more accurate. Also, if the screen gets oily, the accuracy and sensitivity slips. Keep it cool(er than your body temp) and clean and it works fairly well.

Concerning the email, it works just ok for web-based email checking. The problem is it shows only text. No pictures, attachments, or links (other than phone numbers and email addresses) work when checking your webmail. The mail is shown in text form only. That's a big disappointment. Also let it be known that this IS NOT a business class phone. If you're looking to get this phone for linking/checking work email, you will be disappointed. My previous phone, an LG VX8100, could receive page alerts (oncall work). As near as I can tell, this one can't.

As far as web surfing goes, it's mediocre at best. The pages load far too slowly and the phone struggles to process the info coming in. To consider it "entertainment" to surf the web with this phone, you will have to be bored out of your mind to begin with. There is a "Verizon Optimized" version of surfing, but that simply strips off all of the stuff of interest and makes the pages fit the screen. Mostly, "Verizon Optimized" is text based surfing. The most disappointing thing I found out about this phone is that YOU CAN NOT WATCH STREAMING VIDEO!! If it's not the canned stuff from Vcast, forget it. If you want to watch YouTube, Google Video, Streetfire, etc. you're completely out of luck with this phone. :( Speaking of video, you can record a single video until you run out of memory, which is a plus. However, if you want to send that video to someone, forget it. Fifteen second, useless chunks please. :( But that's more Verizon's fault than the phone. Verizon won't let you send anything larger than the 15 seconds.

I do like that it has a navigation feature that you can configure for different modes of locomotion, i.e. walking, driving, etc. I haven't tried it yet, but I think it'd be a great feature when visiting a tourist town where a lot of walking around is involved.

Despite all of the negatives, I do like the phone. It's very lightweight and I can clip it to my belt and not have it getting in the way of my arm when walking or poking me in my side when sitting. I literally don't even notice I'm wearing it when I have it clipped on. I like the sleek design, though it could be a tad thinner. The screen resolution is quite good, for a phone. The touch screen is a neat feature that just needs a few bugs worked out on this phone. For texting, the touch screen is far too inaccurate; a big deal if you're like me and love to text. It's better just to slide open the QWERTY keyboard and click away.

Signal quality. It's not wonderful. This phone has a built-in, concealed antenna. There's a sticker on the phone identifying the antenna area and stating not to block that area. Problem is, that area is in the PALM of your hand when you're talking, web surfing, etc.! So basically, it's ALWAYS going to be blocked when you're using the phone! What the...?!? Because of this, almost ALL of my calls are crackly and/or broken up. If you're a "talker," this behavior will be unacceptable and downright irritating. For me, it's not that big a deal because I prefer texting to talking, and when I'm in the car, it links to my car's Bluetooth system so all calls are hands (and crackle) free.

I like the phone, but overall I have to say that it is NOT a business class phone, is NOT for the heavy web surfer, and is NOT all that great for talking (unless being used handsfree) in my opinion. It's a nice little conversation piece and will probably be great with teens since it's "stylish." Too bad we can't get the new Samsung Instinct w/ Verizon.

Disclaimer:
I am by no means a cell phone aficionado or connoisseur.